My European Invasion: Summing up the happenings of October and some of November

WARNING: FIRST THREE PARAGRAPHS ARE A BIT OF A RANT (sorry!)

Settling into Uni has never taken so long before (compared with UW and BCC). Er… let me rephrase this, I have definitely had a bunch of mix ups, confusion, and feeling lost since arriving to the UK. Well maybe not all the time…

Ok, I am finally feeling like I have the gist of how things work here now; but that won’t hide the fact that I am still dependent on my parents to wire me money occasionally since the ATM machine in Portswood ate my card on October 17^th. I decided that I really don’t care for Bank of America: They had briefly canceled my account, have been sending my replacement credit/debit/atm cards to the wrong address or sending the card in general to my address back in the U.S. … they are a mess.

Transferring money has proven to be quite costly, as they take 10% of what ever amount you transfer, and with the currency exchange 400 USD becomes 234 GBP!! Unfortunately, everything here costs the same, just different units. Looking at the situation though I realize that I am frustrated with the U.S. side of things rather than what is happening here in Southampton. In fact, things in Southampton are starting to click for me, like where to look when crossing the street (finally!).

Since the start of school, I have made a good group of friends who I have had fun excursions with. So far we have enjoyed a true English picnic in a park complete with cucumber sandwiches and scrumptious scones with cream and jam. We also celebrated Halloween- UK style; which I must say I am very impressed at how creative the outfits got for a party with a dead celebrity theme. The extents of decorations were also quite a sight… I mean we had a bonfire incased in an old metal barrel out in the garden!!! (I think the metal barrel was courtesy of the kayaking club..) It was so cool!!!!! Also, I am really glad that I have joined the hillwalking society for weekend trips. Finally I am starting to make a niche for myself socially. Life is good!